Wheatley back in the gym after nine-month lay-off

WARRINGTON boxer Nathan “The Wire” Wheatley is back to the gym to work with trainer Matthew Hatton after a frustrating nine-month layoff through injury.
The 29-year-old damaged his shoulder during a sparring session way back in 2015 and allowed it to get progressively worse as he continued with training and fighting.
The injury eventually thwarted Wheatley’s title chances when he was forced to withdraw from a Central Area middleweight championship contest last May against Barnsley’s Ben Davies at Manchester’s Bowlers Arena.
Middleton’s Darryl Sharp stepped in last-minute and won every round on his way to claiming the vacant strap, despite having just four wins from 18 fights at the time.
After experiencing such disappointment, Nathan finally realised it was time to get the injury fixed once and for all.
He said: “It was at this point that I knew I needed to get it fixed for good, as I had put up with it for too long. I was really disappointed, but, at the same time, I knew that my chance will come again.”
Nathan explained what initially happened,
He said: “I was sparring a couple of years ago at Oliver Harrison’s gym and I overstretched with an uppercut. That was the first time it happened, and I went for physio and it did sort of heal it itself, but then it started playing up further and getting worse over time.
“That happened in training for my second fight, so I’ve had six fights with it playing up, so I’m finally looking forward to getting back in the ring with two working arms!”
Despite being debilitated, the former Bridgefoot ABC student went on to defeat Aaron Robinson 40-36 on points at the Piccadilly Hotel in Manchester in July 2015.
Now unbeaten in seven, he has been visiting the physio every week for treatment for the past six months to work on the damaged muscles.
“All movements are forward in boxing, so we’ve been working on my posture on the back. The front muscles were overpowering the back muscles, so I have been focusing on the muscles behind the punches.
“I’ve been doing a lot of hot yoga as well, which is helping with flexibility. There’s a lot of rugby players in my session, and it’s brilliant, everything just feels so much looser. Definitely gonna’ stick with it.”
Wheatley returned to the gym in the second week of January and has already been hitting the pads with his world title contender trainer, Matthew Hatton.
He aims to be fighting by the end of March or beginning of April.